In Ezekiel 37, God gave Ezekiel a vision. Ezekiel says the hand of the LORD was upon him and carried him out in the spirit and set him down in a valley that was full of dry bones. Then the LORD asked Ezekiel if the bones could live, to which he replied “LORD, Thou knowest.” God then told him to prophesy to the bones, to hear the Word of the LORD. To say “Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews upon you, bring flesh upon you and cover you with skin. Then I will breathe life into you and you shall live and know that I am the LORD.” (KJV paraphrased)

We know these passages are a symbol of the restoration of Israel. But couldn’t they also be a symbol of the restoration that Christians in America could have? Everything in God’s word is put there by God Himself - for correction to His children. We need some correction and restoration from God. We have been in the valley of dry bones for much too long.

For those bones to be alive again, Ezekiel had to prophesy to them of the Word of God. This tells me restoration and new life comes from God’s Word. There are a lot of Christians – people saved by the blood of Jesus – who need restoration today. People who need God’s breath breathed back into them so they may be alive in Christ again!

We need to pray to God to give us a craving for more of Him – to fall in love with His Word. I know it’s hard sometimes to find time to read and study God’s Word. I am guilty…..just skipping one day sometimes causes me to skip two, then three. But, we will never have the life He intended for us without glorifying Him through the studying of His Word. We will never have that close relationship with Jesus without His Word.

Also, I think it’s time we stand up for Who and what we believe. Don’t you dare be ashamed of your Savior! I too, am tired of being mocked and criticized for my faith in Jesus Christ, but so what? Jesus saved us! He gave us everlasting life with Him. Isn’t that enough? People of the world have us so intimidated that we don’t want to stand up for the Truth anymore. According to this world, there is no truth, no right or wrong. It’s all about tolerance and political correctness. I heard a Preacher say recently “everybody else is coming out of the closet, why aren’t we, as Christians?” Well, why aren’t we?

Are we afraid of being called right wing extremists? Or Bible thumping, religious nuts? So what, you’ve been called worse, haven’t you? I know I have....I would rather suffer the persecution of a bunch of pitiful lost people than to stand before God on judgment day and try to answer Him when He asked “Why were you ashamed of my Son, who died on the cross for your soul?” What will I say? What will you say? Think about it…..

We need some new life breathed into our bones, deep into our sinews. We need flesh that glorifies the Living God. In verse 10 of Ezekiel 37, breath came into the bones and they lived, they stood on their feet and were an exceeding great army. We should be that army for God! And we can be. After all, Jesus saved us. He is the giver of life. Choose His abundant life.